Kyle Whittingham is already speeding up Michigan football’s 2027 recruiting class

The beginning of June is usually the “don’t panic” phase of Michigan’s recruiting cycle.

In previous years, it wasn’t uncommon for Michigan to lag behind other programs that loaded up on early commitments. The Wolverines often made their big move in June and July once players started arriving on campus for official visits.

Kyle Whittingham’s first recruiting class at Michigan is shaping up differently. The Wolverines sit at No. 10 in the Rivals industry rankings after adding 11 commitments in May. With 15 commitments in total as of Sunday, Michigan’s 2027 recruiting class looks to be more than halfway done.

There could be a few reasons for that. The Athletic’s Antonio Morales wrote about one: Conversations about money are happening earlier. The story quoted a Power 4 general manager who said the ideal time to exchange figures with a player is after spring ball and before official visits in June. If the player and the program aren’t on the same page financially, the bells and whistles of the official visit won’t count for much.

“To get kids committed and to get them in the boat, it’s happening earlier and earlier each cycle,” a Power 4 assistant general manager said in the same story. “It’s because the family, the agents and the player representation realize that there are real dollars and they get allocated pretty quickly, so they’re trying to get the best they can and somewhere that matches where their value sits as soon as possible.”

Michigan’s 2027 class doesn’t have a consensus five-star prospect on par with Bryce Underwood, Andrew Babalola, Savion Hiter or Carter Meadows from the past two cycles. However, the Wolverines have the foundation for another top-10 class with four-star quarterback Kamden Lopati from Utah and five other prospects in the top 150 of the Rivals industry rankings.

Michigan Class of 2027 commits

Player

Pos

Stars

Rank

State

Quentin Burrell

Xavier Muhammad

102

Jakari Lipsey

104

Kamden Lopati

119

Tavares Harrington

124

Recarder Kitchen

Edge

135

Tyson Robinson

213

Colt Lumpris

269

Darius Johnson

313

Jayce Brewer

Edge

368

Sidney Rouleau

435

Canada

Louis Esposito

648

Charles Woodson Jr.

669

Brayden Watson

787

Lundon Hampton

ATH

976

Here are five thoughts on where Michigan’s class stands heading into June.

The Mount Carmel connection

Michigan’s class includes two players from one of the most successful high school programs in the country: Chicago’s Mount Carmel, which has won four consecutive Illinois state championships under former Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch.

Wide receiver Quentin Burrell, the top prospect in Michigan’s class at No. 85 in the industry rankings, committed in mid-May. Four-star defensive back Tavares Harrington, Burrell’s teammate, picked Michigan a little more than a week later.

In addition to their winning pedigree, Burrell and Harrington bring excellent size. Burrell is a big target who can win with physicality at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, and the 6-3 Harrington is a long, rangy DB who can blanket receivers in coverage. He’s listed as a safety in the rankings but lines up outside at cornerback in his high school highlights. He also could play nickel if defensive coordinator Jay Hill wants a bigger defender in that spot.

Michigan recruits heavily in Chicago, and that’s likely to continue under general manager Dave Peloquin, who spent two decades at Notre Dame. Burrell and Harrington both had the Fighting Irish among their finalists, along with schools in the Big 12 and SEC. The Mount Carmel connection could be a fruitful one if the Wolverines can maintain it.

Michigan’s in-state focus

Last year, Michigan didn’t have a commitment from an in-state player until quarterback Tommy Carr flipped from Miami (Ohio) in November. Michigan’s 2027 class already features four in-state players in offensive lineman Jakari Lipsey from Kalamazoo, defensive end Recarder Kitchen from Muskegon, offensive lineman Louis Esposito from Saline and running back Lundon Hampton from Grand Rapids.

Lipsey, the No. 3 prospect in the state for this cycle, is exactly the kind of player Michigan wants to keep at home. The Wolverines had to fend off LSU and other Big Ten programs, including Wisconsin and UCLA, to land his commitment. Hampton, a three-star prospect who is No. 976 in the industry rankings, is classified as an athlete and drew interest at defensive back and running back. If Michigan is going to dig deep in the rankings for a developmental prospect, adding another in-state player never hurts.

Michigan is hoping to add to its in-state haul with Harper Woods wide receiver Dakota Guerrant, a top-50 national prospect and the No. 1 player in Michigan. Guerrant is among the prospects slated to attend the Sound Mind Sound Body National College Showcase Camp happening Monday in Detroit.

A name Michigan fans will know

Under normal circumstances, beating out a handful of ACC and SEC programs for a three-star safety from Florida would be a one-day story at Michigan. But it’s different when that three-star safety is named Charles Woodson Jr.

Charles Woodson Sr., the 1997 Heisman Trophy winner, is one of Michigan’s all-time greats and most prominent ambassadors. For a staff that didn’t have a lot of previous connections to Michigan, keeping the Woodson name affiliated with the program was an early test that Whittingham and company passed without a lot of difficulty.

Charles Jr. got an offer from Michigan’s previous staff, and the new staff closed the deal. The comparisons to his father are both unfair and unavoidable. Like his dad, Charles Jr. is a three-phase player who has highlights as a defensive back, wide receiver and punt returner. At 5-11 and 170 pounds, he’s the No. 65 player in Florida and the No. 669 prospect in the Rivals industry rankings. He’s not a mega-prospect, but he has talent to go along with the nostalgia factor.

It could take time for that talent to show up on the field. No pressure, kid.

What’s the strength of the class?

A player I really like is Xavier Muhammad, the four-star defensive lineman from Houston. He appears to be a favorite of defensive line coach Larry Black, who offered him a scholarship at Vanderbilt last May and then offered him again at Michigan in February.

At 6-4 and 275 pounds, Muhammad is a big guy who can really move. He’s a multi-sport athlete who excels on the basketball court, and you can see the athleticism when he lines up at wide receiver. Muhammad, Kitchen and four-star edge Jayce Brewer from Indianapolis give Michigan three promising defensive line prospects to build around.

Michigan is off to a good start in the secondary, too, with commitments from Harrington, Woodson and four-star cornerback Darius Johnson from Riverside, Calif., though three-star safety Maxwell Miles flipped to Minnesota on Sunday. Landing Johnson, the No. 313 player in the industry rankings, showed that Michigan’s new staff can compete with the likes of Oregon and USC for West Coast prospects.

The crown jewel would be five-star cornerback Joshua Dobson, who recently dropped LSU from his official visit list and added a trip to Michigan instead. Dobson, the No. 9 player in the industry rankings, could be the headliner of Michigan’s 2027 class if the Wolverines can beat Texas A&M, South Carolina and Auburn.

Where are the needs?

Michigan added its first linebacker to the class Friday with a commitment from Brayden Watson, a three-star prospect from Buford, Ga. That’s a position Michigan should look to fortify given the depth situation of the current roster.

Burrell is the only wide receiver committed at the moment. That could change depending on Guerrant’s decision, but Oregon appears to be a strong contender. Michigan could look to fill out its class at wide receiver with a player like Charles Britton, a three-star prospect from Belleville, Mich.

Aside from Lipsey and Esposito, Michigan’s only other offensive line commitment is from Sidney Rouleau, a three-star prospect from Canada who is projected to play on the interior. Michigan signed four offensive linemen in its previous two classes and five in 2024, so there’s room for at least one more offensive line prospect.

The Wolverines often sign at least one high-ceiling tackle prospect with size in hopes of developing him into a starter a few years down the line. (Think Tommy Fraumann, a 6-7, 250-pound tackle who flipped from Miami (Ohio) in last year’s class.)

One candidate for that spot is Niko Kampas, a 6-7, 270-pound prospect from Germany via the NFL Academy in England. Kampas, the No. 268 player in the industry rankings, was scheduled to visit Auburn and Michigan on consecutive days last week. Michigan’s previous staff had an eye for international players like Manuel Beigel and Julius Welschof, and Kampas would continue that theme.

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